I'm happy to report that changing the versions of several packages, including going back to an earlier version of festival, seems to have fixed the problem.
My test script counter=0; while echo $counter | festival --language americanenglish -b --tts ; do counter=$(( counter + 1 )) ; done ; echo Crashed after $(( $counter -1 )) runs. just completed a thousand iterations on the first try. Package Buggy Working name version version ===================================================== festival 1.4.3-15 1.4.2-2.1 festlex-cmu 1.4.0-4 1.4.0-1 festlex-poslex 1.4.0-5 1.4.0-1 festvox-kallpc16k 1.4.0-5 1.4.0-1 festvox-kdlpc16k 1.4.0-5 1.4.0-1 libestools1.2 not installed 1:1.2.2-2 libestools1.2c102 1:1.2.3-8 not installed libgnome-speech3 1:0.3.2-3 not installed speech-tools 1:1.2.3-7 not installed dasher* 3.2.11-1 not installed libarts1* 1.3.0-1 1.3.2-3 libartsc0* 1.3.2-1 1.3.2-3 libaudiofile-dev* 0.2.6-4 0.2.6-6 libaudiofile0* 0.2.6-4 0.2.6-6 libmad0* 0.15.1b-1 0.15.1b-2.1 libmad0-dev* 0.15.1b-1 0.15.1b-2.1 I'm inclined to think that the package names marked with "*" are unlikely candidates for the bug, mostly because I suspect festival still aborted after they were changed. I suggest keeping this bug report open for a while, or until the exact bug is identified. Thanks, Kingsley -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]